The Bahamas - Leadership

Prime Minister Perry Gladstone Christie is presently the longest-serving
member of the Bahamian Parliament with over thirty years of service. His
career has been marked by dedication and service, but it has not been
without controversy and conflict.

Christie's leadership as Minister of Tourism (1982-84) was
considered dynamic and led the ministry to new heights. However, in 1984
he resigned from Prime Minister Pindling's Cabinet and from the
PLP as a protest over the alleged corruption, i.e. taking bribes from
drug traffickers, in the government and the party. He ran as an
independent in his same constituency and won. After he returned to the
PLP fold in 1990, he was assigned ministerial duties. Christie was
co-Deputy Leader of the PLP from 1992 to 1997. Upon Pindling's
resignation in 1997 he was elected Deputy, and has since led the PLP.

When the PLP won a landslide election in 2002 over the FNM, Christie
became the Prime Minister. In his first Ministerial address to
Bahamians, Christie said he was "determined to lead a government
of integrity." At the 2003 Trumpet Awards ceremonies Christie was
the first individual to be designated a Global Hero, someone who has the
"value of character and perspective of an effective
leader." The Trumpet Awards honor African-American achievers in
diverse fields who have helped form the status of blacks throughout the
Americas. The PLP in congratulating him on the award noted his
"impeccable record in public life."

However, upon his return from the Awards he faced the perennial issue
haunting Bahamian politicians, drug money. Opposition Leader, Tommy
Turnquest, had made allegations that the PLP election campaign was
funded with drug money. Christie again denied any link with drug
trafficking money. In addition to this long-lived issue, nine months
after his first term as prime minister began one government critic asked
if Christie would be "the nation's first one term
wonder?" This censure regarded what were claimed as ongoing
issues that were still not addressed. And even furthermore, that
Christie lacked a "blueprint, a map and a vision for the way
forward." Another more measured point of view contrasted the
former reign of the almost frenetic government of the FNM as an
extremely hard act to follow, especially with the "progressive
conservatism" of the PLP. "Heaviness,"
"inertia," "crawl" were all terms used to
describe current political conditions leading to a sense of restiveness
among Bahamians.